May 30 marks China's National Science and Technology Workers Day. President Xi Jinping has pointed out that  "scientific researchers are a backbone force in advancing Chinese modernization. They should bring out the spirit of striving with all their might, innovate with confidence and creativity, and contribute their wisdom and talent to building China into a leading country in science and technology."

In what kinds of environments do scientific researchers carry out innovation and discovery? There is a group of scientists who travel to remote and challenging places in search of new knowledge, writing their research papers on the vast land and in the deep sea. From the freezing polar regions and scientific research stations, to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and glacier monitoring sites; from the deep ocean where scientists investigate marine life, to ultra-deep underground laboratories where they listen for signals from the universe; and from desert caves where cultural relics are preserved—these researchers define their scientific coordinates in extreme environments and continuously expand the boundaries of human knowledge.

On the occasion of National Science and Technology Workers Day, the “Science and New Knowledge” section, academically supported by the China Association for Science and Technology and produced by People’s Daily, published a special report. The report follows scientists who venture into scientific “no man’s lands” and listens to voices from the front lines of research in extreme environments.

The research vessel Tansuo-1 carrying the manned submersible Shenhai Yongshi.

Photo provided by the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences; watercolor effect generated with AI assistance.

Minus 40 Degrees Celsius: Qinling Station in Antarctica

Filling Observation Gaps in the Freezing Polar Region

The Antarctic ice sheet is covered in vast expanses of snow and ice.

On Inexpressible Island in the Ross Sea region, Qinling Station stands like a gray polar “ark.” As a new support point for China’s polar scientific expeditions, the station fills a long-standing observation gap in the Pacific sector of Antarctica.

The Ross Sea region is a key area for Antarctic marine science research and a frontier for deep-sea, polar, and multi-sphere studies. The selection of Qinling Station’s location was strongly influenced by marine science needs. On the first floor of the east wing of the station’s main building, a laboratory area of more than 500 square meters is directly connected to the bay. Seawater can be transported directly into the laboratory through dedicated pipelines, enabling real-time analysis for marine chemistry, marine microbiology, and related research.

“The station is equipped with a modern seawater sampling system and specialized laboratories, forming a complete marine observation capability that covers in-situ sampling, real-time analysis, and data processing,” said Wang Tao, head of Qinling Station for China’s 42nd Antarctic Expedition. Relying on these research facilities, studies on marine dynamic processes and the formation of Antarctic bottom water will be gradually carried out.

Observation buildings for upper-atmosphere physics, atmospheric science, and geophysics are located on higher ground within the station area. At present, Qinling Station is basically capable of conducting comprehensive diagnostics of the Antarctic upper atmosphere through multiple means, including electric, magnetic, and optical measurements. These capabilities will support space physics research, space environment monitoring, and early warning of space-related events and disasters.

Operating and maintaining an Antarctic station inevitably means fighting snowstorms and extreme winds. The average temperature here is around minus 20 degrees Celsius, while extreme low temperatures can fall below minus 40 degrees Celsius. There are more than 100 days of strong winds each year. “We often feel the power of Antarctica,” Wang Tao said. “In March this year, an outdoor pipeline at Qinling Station suddenly malfunctioned and required emergency repair. The wind speed was over 30 meters per second, and the perceived temperature was close to minus 50 degrees Celsius. My teammates and I had to work outside for about half an hour, then return indoors to warm up before going out again. We repeated this process several times.”

Overwintering is a test that every year-round Antarctic research station must face. In addition to low temperatures, researchers also have to deal with strong winds, blizzards, polar nights, and other natural challenges. According to Wang Tao, during winter, researchers must inspect and maintain scientific observation facilities and equipment every day in extreme conditions to ensure the normal operation of meteorological, ecological, upper-atmosphere physics, and other observation systems. They must also regularly summarize and process the collected data. “This requires both strong physical fitness and firm willpower,” Wang said.

During overwintering, Qinling Station’s microgrid system has demonstrated strong environmental adaptability and reliability. Its multi-energy complementary system, integrating wind, solar, hydrogen, energy storage, and diesel power, usually achieves a clean energy share of about 60%. During the polar night in winter, when photovoltaic power generation is unavailable, wind power becomes the main source of electricity, and the clean energy share can still remain above 50%.

Today, this young team, with an average age just over 30, is working to build, operate, and manage China’s polar research stations. Their youthful dedication is being written into the snow and ice of Antarctica.

“Antarctica is very cold, and overwintering is very hard, but everyone’s fighting spirit is truly inspiring,” Wang Tao said.

2,400 Meters Underground: Jinping Underground Laboratory

Searching for Cosmic Dark Matter in an Ultra-Deep Underground Environment

With a vertical rock overburden of 2,400 meters and a cosmic-ray flux only one hundred-millionth of that on the surface, the China Jinping Underground Laboratory, located in the middle of the Jinping Mountain tunnel in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, is the deepest and largest ultra-deep underground laboratory in the world. The Deep Underground and Ultra-low Radiation Background Facility for Frontier Physics Experiments, known as the Jinping facility, is located here.

Recently, Ma Hao, deputy director of the scientific department of the Jinping facility and associate professor at the Department of Engineering Physics of Tsinghua University, came to the laboratory to prepare for acceptance testing of the facility’s process equipment.

After receiving his PhD in 2009, Ma devoted himself to the construction of the Jinping Underground Laboratory and related research. “In the past, when we conducted dark matter experiments, we could only borrow underground laboratories abroad and work in a corner of less than two square meters,” Ma recalled. After the first phase of the Jinping Underground Laboratory was completed and put into operation, Chinese scientists finally had their own research site. Today, after the second-phase expansion, the available space of the laboratory has increased from 4,000 cubic meters to more than 300,000 cubic meters. It offers advantages such as extremely low environmental radon emanation, extremely low radiation background, ultra-low cosmic-ray flux, and ultra-clean space.

What do researchers do 2,400 meters underground?

The China Dark Matter Experiment Collaboration, led by Tsinghua University, uses high-purity germanium detectors to conduct direct detection of dark matter.

Dark matter cannot be seen or touched, but it is an important component of the universe. Because the probability of interaction between dark matter and ordinary matter is extremely low, and because cosmic rays create interference, directly detecting dark matter is very difficult. “It is like listening for the sound of a needle dropping at a concert,” Ma said. The extremely thick rock layer above the Jinping Underground Laboratory reduces the influence of cosmic rays and allows scientists to better capture faint signals from the universe.

Previously, using equipment from the first phase of the laboratory, the research team achieved important progress in the search for light-mass dark matter. At present, in the second phase of the laboratory, a liquid-nitrogen cryogenic shielding device with a volume of 1,725 cubic meters has completed liquid-nitrogen filling, and a new batch of high-purity germanium detectors is being tested inside it. The germanium nuclei in the detectors act like “hunters” searching for dark matter. Larger-mass detectors are now under construction, which will further increase the probability of detecting dark matter.

Today, the China Institute of Atomic Energy is carrying out nuclear astrophysics experiments at the Jinping Underground Laboratory, while the Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences is conducting research on deep-underground quantum computing.

At the end of 2025, the Jinping Deep Underground Science Center was established with the goal of developing the Jinping Underground Laboratory into a world-leading interdisciplinary platform for deep-underground science. According to Zeng Zhi, director of the center, more than ten research teams have already entered the laboratory to conduct frontier basic research in dark matter, nuclear astrophysics, integrated circuits, gravitational waves, deep-underground medicine, quantum computing, and other fields.

4,200 Meters Underwater: The Manned Submersible Shenhai Yongshi

Diving into the Deep Sea to Explore the Mysteries of Microorganisms

“Number One, this is Yongshi reporting. The oxygen flow inside the cabin is normal… Underwater acoustic communication has been established. Request permission to flood and dive,” reported the submersible pilot.

“Yongshi, Number One received. Wish you a successful dive.”

On the deck of the research mother ship, the operator’s brief and firm response marked the beginning of another dive. Together with the submersible pilot, Zhang Weijia, a researcher at the Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, boarded the manned submersible Shenhai Yongshi and headed into the depths of the South China Sea to explore the survival mechanisms of deep-sea microorganisms.

Most microorganisms are invisible and intangible, and remain unfamiliar to many people. In Zhang’s view, to understand the “language” of these microscopic forms of life, scientists must actively move closer to them. “Only by being there in person can we gain a clearer understanding of the relationships between microorganisms, other organisms, and their surrounding environment,” Zhang said. “This kind of direct experience cannot be replaced by any laboratory simulation.”

After descending 200 meters, the light gradually weakened. At 1,000 meters, the light disappeared completely, with only faint glimmers from bioluminescent plankton. At 4,200 meters, there was no light and no sound outside the submersible. The extreme pressure at this depth could easily crush ordinary metal structures. The crewed spherical cabin of Shenhai Yongshi, made of titanium alloy, is capable of withstanding the extreme pressure of the deep sea, ensuring the smooth progress of scientific research.

“My first deep dive was aboard Jiaolong to visit the Mariana Trench,” Zhang recalled. She has now completed more than 20 dives, but every time she sees the strange creatures of the deep sea through the observation window, she still feels deeply excited. “Now the equipment is more advanced, and the pilots have richer experience, allowing us to immerse ourselves more fully in scientific research,” Zhang said. Through communication and collaboration, researchers jointly map the deep-sea ecosystem.

Observing biological communities, collecting sediments, and then returning to the laboratory for analysis—Zhang and her colleagues often move along this chain that connects the deep sea with the land. Through repeated dives and cross-institutional cooperation, one scientific question after another is gradually answered.

When samples are brought from the deep sea to the surface, drastic changes in temperature and pressure can alter the state of microorganisms. How can researchers preserve the authenticity of their studies? Scientists and engineers have worked together to develop high-pressure in-situ simulation, cultivation, and analysis devices. These systems allow experiments to be carried out under conditions close to the microorganisms’ original environment, making the research results more natural and reliable.

The deep-sea environment is extreme, and biological density is far lower than in shallow waters. How can high-precision biological information be extracted from limited samples? In recent years, through breakthroughs in key technologies and the development of a complete research system, Chinese deep-sea scientists have greatly increased China’s contribution to global marine microbial data.

On May 10, the research vessel Tansuo-1, carrying the manned submersible Fendouzhe, successfully arrived in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, completing the Pacific crossing expedition of the Global Abyss Exploration Program. During the voyage, the research team discovered the deepest chemosynthetic ecosystem ever found in the Southern Hemisphere and recorded abundant abyssal biological groups for the first time. “We hope that new discoveries will make the knowledge puzzle of deep-sea microorganisms more complete, and that we can also draw inspiration from their life potential to adapt to extreme environments,” Zhang said.

4,000 Meters Above Sea Level: The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Monitoring Glacier Changes in a Scientific “No Man’s Land”

At the Tibet Plateau Institute of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences in Lhasa, senior engineer Laba Zhuoma was carefully observing and comparing four glacier satellite images on her computer. These images from the “clouds” are like CT scans of glaciers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, produced by Laba Zhuoma and her team.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has a high altitude and low temperatures. Behind every “CT scan” lies the team’s painstaking fieldwork.

On one scientific expedition to the Qiangtang Grassland, although the temperature had dropped below minus 20 degrees Celsius, the team members set up instruments, started the equipment, and collected data in a smooth and practiced sequence. While waiting beside the equipment for image acquisition, everyone was shivering from the cold. Suddenly, the instrument stopped producing readings. “The altitude was high and the temperature was too low. The equipment failed,” a team member said.

“Even the equipment was frozen, not to mention the people,” Laba Zhuoma said. The extremely low temperatures on the plateau pose great challenges to scientific research.

When traveling to Laigu Glacier at an altitude of 4,000 meters, the team entered a scientific “no man’s land.” When surveying the Dongga Glacier hidden deep in the mountains, they had to ride horses to reach the site. “Fieldwork is essential,” Laba Zhuoma said. “Remote sensing observes from the stars, while ground observation looks from the earth. Remote sensing enables large-scale identification, and ground observation provides precise calibration. Neither can be missing.”

Tibet has many clear-sky days, which is favorable for optical satellite observation, but data processing remains difficult. “Glaciers form over many years. In areas with large mountain height differences, glacier surfaces are often covered with gravel and sand, forming impurity layers. It is difficult to distinguish these impurities from nearby bare rock using remote-sensing spectra,” Laba Zhuoma said. This is also a recognized technical challenge in international glacier remote-sensing identification.

To accurately describe the changes in glaciers and glacial lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau over nearly half a century, the research team reviewed 44 years of meteorological satellite image data. Often, apart from trekking across glaciers, the researchers spent hours at computers, carefully tracing precise glacier boundaries.

After nearly three years, this long data journey was compiled into the Remote Sensing Monitoring Dataset of Typical Glaciers and Glacial Lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from 1976 to 2020. The dataset, which continues to be updated and improved, has established a relatively complete archive for glaciers in the region.

Laba Zhuoma told the reporter that she is participating in the development of a next-generation “smart brain” for ecological simulation and early warning on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The project plans to deeply integrate artificial intelligence, big data, and multi-source remote sensing technologies to strengthen research on glacier dynamics simulation and disaster risk early-warning models.

For decades, this plateau research team has written its papers on the snow-covered land and passed on the responsibility of protection. “It is the mission of our generation of scientists to use what we have learned to protect the plateau glaciers,” Laba Zhuoma said.

Deep in the Desert: Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes

Restoring Murals in a Race Between Science and Time

At the western end of the Hexi Corridor in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, conservators inside the Mogao Grottoes are carefully injecting restoration materials into cracks in flaking murals. This material, developed specifically for mural restoration, helps ensure that the pigment layer remains stable even after aging.

“Our mural restoration work has moved from experience-based practice toward scientific and standardized conservation,” said Yu Zongren, director of the Conservation Research Institute of the Dunhuang Academy.

For visitors, the desert presents a magnificent landscape. Yet these thousand-year-old treasures have long been engaged in a daily struggle with wind, sand, salt, rain, and snow. The area has large day-night temperature differences and frequent sandstorms. Over time, sand from the Mingsha Mountain has entered the caves, affecting the murals to varying degrees.

In Yu’s view, mural conservation is not only a technical contest with nature, but also a discipline of balancing time. “Pursuing short-term results may cause the loss of key information in murals because of insufficient understanding. Every step must be carried out as carefully as embroidery,” Yu said.

How to race against time while ensuring quality is a challenge posed by the desert to cultural heritage protection. “Murals are generally located in remote places. From disease investigation to capturing microscopic signs of deterioration, we must face nature’s challenges immediately,” Yu said. To respond effectively, conservators must first understand the materials and techniques used in the murals.

The cultural heritage conservation team of the Dunhuang Academy began exploring in-situ non-destructive analysis technologies. By using portable scientific equipment, they can quickly obtain key information on mural materials, structures, and deterioration characteristics without contact or intervention. However, handheld portable devices have limitations in sensitivity and positioning accuracy. In addition, after long-term wind and sand erosion, the surfaces of Dunhuang murals often have large areas of rough and irregular structures, making it difficult to continuously capture precise mural data.

The team developed a distinctive solution. Optical coherence tomography, originally used in ophthalmic examinations, was modified to analyze material characteristics in different mural areas and determine painting materials and techniques. X-ray fluoroscopy, commonly used in orthopedic diagnosis and treatment, can be used to investigate damage within mural structures. Near-infrared spectrometers, hyperspectral scanning systems, digital microscopes, and other technologies have been continuously introduced into the desert. Advanced equipment and algorithms now work together to build an in-situ non-destructive analysis system capable of handling complex mural scenarios.

The team’s work is not limited to Dunhuang. Their footprints now extend to more than 400 major cultural heritage conservation projects. In Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, the Jiazharjia Mountain caves are located halfway up a mountain at an altitude of around 2,500 meters, accessible only by a narrow path. The team made dozens of trips, using the in-situ non-destructive analysis system to complete deterioration surveys and design a mural relocation and conservation plan.

“Cultural relics do not speak on their own. We must learn to understand them,” Yu said. Deep in the desert, there are always people standing guard over the caves. “When you truly love something, you cannot bear to leave it.”

More and more young people are coming here to pursue their scientific dreams. Dai Wenhan is one of them. He not only participates in dark matter experiments, but also takes part in interdisciplinary research related to superconducting quantum devices. “At Jinping, there is so much research we can do,” he said.

Original Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ObTmUo9I3A0EGRqt_ZUFvA

Original Source:  People’s Daily, Page 06, May 30, 2026

Original Authors: Liu Shiyao, Wu Yue, Dong Zeyang, Xu Yuyao, and Zeng Yichen

Academic Support: China Association for Science and Technology